Inula magnifica flower close up.

A Sunflower in all but name

Fabulous.

But a perennial which means no staking or worrying about whether it will reappear Bjs. Thanks Mel.

I really fancy that!

I'll remember you said that when I get around to splitting it Mel. I did not save seed last year but if I do this year will let you know.

That's very kind of you, Scotsgran.

I have been doing the rounds this evening - a bit dismayed by near-casualties in this heat. Needless to say, I watered assiduously tonight (not for the first time, I assure you, but today the heat was back with a vengeance after a couple of cooler days) The astilbe's top leaves are a bit crisp - hope I'm in time.

I have hardly done any watering in spite of the heat wave which seems to have lasted since the middle of May. By the time we got up and ate breakfast it was too hot and by the time the sun went down it was too dark. We have had no water for most of today due to a massive burst in the supply pipe near our village.

No worries now! Although it's surprising how little even a heavy downpour penetrates our sandy soil.

It was brown (compost bin ) day here today so in a desperate attempt to catch up in the garden I decided to clear a patch of rough grass completely. I got stuck in at 7am and at 7.15pm the heavens opened. I was soaked almost instantly so decided to carry on and finish it. I was surprised to find the soil an inch below the surface was bone dry in spite of the rain we have had over the past few days. I had a total of 7 bins out this am. Just shows you how much growth there has been. It has been so dry my viola seeds failed to appear but they have shot up in the past few days. Some of them are flowering already. I'm wondering if I should remove the flowers to allow the trailing plants to grow longer before allowing them to flower? They are all colours. I'll get a photo when it dries up.

A lot of my violas completely crisped up and almost evaporated. They were quite old though and some were getting very leggy because I had deadheaded them regularly. I have replaced most of them and will water them carefully. They should last through for a good while. I've never deadheaded them straight away, but I've never had trailing ones. I had two window boxes of orange pansies which flowered beautifully for months. Eventually, though, they were so tall that they collapsed completely and the foliage started to go yellow. I replaced those with mixed ones. I hate getting rid of plants, but I think they were beyond redemption.

Very nice they would look nice in Glamis Walled Garden Scotsgran.

I'll put you on the list for a bit or seeds whichever happens first. We took the grand children up to Kirriemuir for a visit to JM Barries birth place. We passed the gates in to Glamis. I had not realised it was so close but now I know where you are I will try and have a day out there. I saw Linda's blog. You and Karen have been working your socks off.